Attempted armed robbery injures two

Two men were injured Saturday evening in an attempted armed robbery outside a discount smoke shop on Missouri 291.

Independence police say both victims were taken to the hospital for treatment of their injuries, which were not life threatening.

The men were leaving the shop in the 200 block of M-291, near Salisbury Road, when a man armed with a handgun approached them. Police said the suspect hit one man with the gun before shooting the second man in the right calf.

The assailant, who was described as a black man with a short Afro haircut with curls, fled in what was thought to be a 1990s maroon Ford Taurus.

The suspect didn't get anything from his victims.

Anyone with information is asked to call the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-8477 or Independence Police at 816-325-7852 or 816-325-7330.